1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a method of managing power consumption of a network interface, and more particularly to a method of managing power consumption of a network interface by controlling the power and the clock signal supply to the network interface according to enabling or disabling status of the wake-up function of the network interface.
2. Description of Related Art
As the network communication advances, most of the computer products provide the network communication function and usually also support the network wake-up function. Regardless of the kind of power management system used, when the computer product supports the wake-up function, at least some circuits have to be on standby in order to receive or respond the wake-up signal from the network. Because those circuits have been set, once the computer is turned on, the power will be supplied to those circuits. When the network wake-up function is not in use, these circuits still consume the power, which wastes the power resource.
FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a method of switching the operation mode of the traditional network interface from the power-saving mode to the normal mode. In this traditional technology, when the network operates in the normal mode (S402), if the network is not in use for a predetermined period of time, the software will determine whether to enter the network interface into the power-saving mode (S404).
After the software determines to enter the network interface into the power-saving mode, the peripheral controller interface only provides the power and the clock signal to the medium access control (MAC) receiving terminal and the physical layer (PHY) receiving terminal (S406) for receiving the wake-up signal from the external source. The power and the clock signal will not be supplied to the MAC transmitting terminal and the PHY transmitting terminal. Then the power and the clock signal supply to the peripheral controller interface will be cut off (S408). Accordingly, the network interface is switched to the power-saving mode (S410).
When the network interface operates in the power-saving mode (S502), whether the user initiates the system or whether the system receives the network wake-up signal from the network (S504) is continuously determined. If so, the power and the clock signal will be supplied to the peripheral controller interface (S506) first. Then the peripheral controller interface, the MAC and the PHY (S508) are reset.
The resetting of the peripheral controller interface, the MAC and the PHY programs and initializes the network interface (S510). Accordingly, the network is switched to the normal mode (S512).
In light of the above, the traditional computer products with network wake-up function as shown in step S406 will provide the power and the clock signal to the MAC and the PHY in the power-saving mode even when the wake-up function is not in use, which induces some unnecessary power consumption.